| 2001 |
| 2001 |
| David Duval |
The elusive Major…
Whilst many of the headlines from the 130th Open Championship related to Ian Woosnam’s catastrophe on the 2nd Tee when his caddie discovered the famous 15th Club, it was David Duval who claimed the title and his elusive major.
In 1999, Duval had briefly surpassed Woods as world number 1 but a major title had proved elusive until a superb weekend performance at Royal Lytham & St Annes. Duval roared to the top of a bunched leaderboard with a 65 on Saturday, joining Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Alex Cejka, with a further 15 players within two strokes.In the final round, Duval birdied four of the first 11 holes on the way to a 67 and a three-shot win over Niclas Fasth, who also had a 67. The fearsome final five holes at Royal Lytham proved no match for Duval’s effortless golf. He described his second shot on the 15th hole from 210 yards as. “One of the best shots I’ve ever hit,”
Having claimed his first major, Duval gave one of the most humble winning speeches in Open Championship history.
